This invention relates to a card game with an object of reaching a count of nine. In this game, the player makes all the decision on the play of his/her hand while the dealer has limited or no option in the play of his hand. Hand herein means the playing cards and their respective score or count value in one's possession.
Various card games, some adopted as wagering card games, have been developed in the past wherein the object is to reach a winning count such as 21 for the game of blackjack, with all the cards scoring above 21 losing the game. A wagering card game means that the players play for money. In a wagering card game, there is usually a dealer who plays for the house, i.e., usually a casino, and players, usually of a desired number, whose object is to beat the dealer's hand and win for money.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,228 discloses a card game wherein the number cards from ace to nine are valued at face value with the tens and court cards (jack queen and king) having a value of zero. The one who scores nearest to nine or nine wins. In this card game, a dealer having a flush, his two or three cards having the same suit, for example, all hearts or all spades, or having a three of a kind wins a player whose cards are less than nine. The player with the same situation, flush or three of a kind, on the other hand, still loses if the player's hand is lower than that of the dealer's or when the dealer's hand is nine. The player wins the game if his count or hand is closer to nine or nine and the dealer scores less than the player. The player takes additional payoff if the cards/hand are a flush and totals nine. A player with a flush hand but scoring less than nine only gets an even pay off, that is getting the same amount as his/her bet. A player having the same count as the dealer neither wins or loses. This card game limits a player's chances of winning.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,309 discloses a card game similar to U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,228 with a hand close to nine or nine winning the game but differs in that it does not have the rules relating to a flush or a three of a kind. It, however, has rules for tied hands and non-zero. In this card game, a dealer's hand is played first to its final count before the players play their hands or cards. Consequently, a player already knows the dealer's hand even before playing his/her hand which somewhat removes the excitement from the game as well as limits the player's decision making.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a player with a card game where his decision making and risk taking is maximized by letting him play his hand without knowing the dealer's hand.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a card game where the players has more options than the dealer without taking away a level of advantage for the dealer to make the game adoptable to a casino setting.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a card game where the odds of winning can be increased or decreased by selecting features or rules of the card game that would correspondingly increase or decrease the odds of winning for either the player or the dealer.
It is also a further object of this invention to provide a player having two cards of equal numerical point value, a chance to play more than one hand in a game or to give additional chances of winning by splitting the hand and betting on the resulting split hands.
It is also a further object of this invention to provide additional rules or options to a main method of playing the card game, the choosing of one or more of these rules or options giving the player or the dealer the ability to change the odds of winning.